1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to cosmetic containers and, more particularly, to protected cosmetic containers having shock absorption to protect against damage from shocks and/or having thermal resistance to protect against the effects of heat and to protective shields for standard cosmetic containers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hinged cosmetic containers such as compacts are commonly used to hold various cosmetics or make-up including face powder, blush, eye shadow, lip color, and the like. Indeed, virtually every type of make-up can be provided in a form suitable for being contained in a cosmetic compact. It is also typical for a cosmetic compact to hold accessories, such as various applicators for the cosmetics contained therein and/or mirrors. Cosmetic compacts allow one or more cosmetics in quantities sufficient for multiple applications to be conveniently stored and/or transported, particularly in receptacles such as cosmetic carriers, handbags or purses, for access and use on demand. Accordingly, cosmetic compacts are very prevalent and highly popular.
Conventional cosmetic compacts typically include a housing or shell having a lid pivotally mounted to a base for movement between closed and open positions, and one or more cosmetics contained in the interior of the base. The housings of conventional cosmetic compacts are ordinarily made of substantially rigid or brittle materials, such as plastics and/or metals. Since it is not unusual for cosmetic compacts to be subjected to shocks, such as impacts, vibrations or jarring forces, during use, storage and/or transport, the housings and/or the contents thereof often sustain irreparable damage. The housings themselves may crack or break, mirrors within the housings may crack or shatter, and/or cosmetics within the housings may crack, fracture, chip or crumble. Cosmetics may leak out of damaged housings, and damaged cosmetics may leak out of even intact housings. Leakage of contents from the housings of cosmetic compacts results in loss of potentially expensive cosmetics and may adversely compromise surrounding objects or areas. For example, cosmetics leaked from housings onto surrounding objects or areas may necessitate tedious cleaning of the objects or areas and may permanently stain the objects or areas. Damaged cosmetics may no longer function as desired and are particularly vulnerable to further degradation. Accordingly, damaged cosmetic compacts may no longer provide sufficient protection for their contents and may become unsuitable for normal use, storage and/or transport. Damaged cosmetic compacts, therefore, are usually disposed of by their users prematurely, thusly resulting in economic loss.
A cosmetic compact having a flexible housing made of a plastic or rubber elastomeric foam to protect against damage from shocks has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,055,992 to Skarne. A significant drawback to the proposed cosmetic compact is that the flexible housing must rely for dimensional stability upon a dimensionally sturdy mirror and a dimensionally sturdy cosmetic compartment or tray disposed in the lid and base, respectively, of the housing. The dimensional instability of the housing when the mirror and/or the cosmetic compartment are not installed therein renders the compact unsuitable for use when some of the contents are removed. This is undesirable, especially in a cosmetic compact having a plurality of removable cosmetic trays respectively containing cosmetics which a user may deplete at different rates. The user may, for example, wish to remove some or all of the cosmetic trays, such as those which are empty or substantially depleted, from the housing and continue to use the cosmetic compact for any remaining cosmetics and/or for the mirror or other accessories. This cannot be done with the compact proposed by Skarne since the housing becomes dimensionally unstable and uncontrollably flexible when contents are removed and the compact is handled during normal use. The cosmetic compact proposed by Skarne fails to provide the versatility needed to enable users to remove some of the contents and continue using the cosmetic compact in a normal manner. Another significant drawback to the cosmetic compact proposed by Skarne is that the elastomeric foam may be easily gouged, scratched, slashed or penetrated by other objects during routine use, thereby detracting from its shock absorbing effectiveness as well as from its appearance. In addition, the shock absorbing properties of foam are subject to degradation in that the open cells of the foam are susceptible to crushing and permanent collapse so that the foam loses its springiness in a short time when subjected to repeated deformations.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,012 to Kamen et al discloses a cosmetic compact in which the lid and base of the housing are flexible due to being made of a piece of thermoplastic material of nominal thickness. The nominal thickness of the lid and base reduces the structural strength of the housing and provides little protection for the contents against damage from shocks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,910 to Kizawa et al discloses a compact having a soft area along a front wall thereof to define a push button for releasing hooks used to maintain the compact in a closed position. The location and design of the soft area make it ineffective for shock absorption.
In addition to hinged cosmetic containers, such as compacts, various types of non-hinged cosmetic containers are conventionally known. For example, cosmetic containers such as jars or pots having a base containing a cosmetic and a separate lid removably associated with the base are marketed and sold by many cosmetic suppliers. The lids may be threaded onto the bases, may be press fit on the bases, may snap on and off of the bases, and/or may be removably associated with the bases in any other manner. Industry-standard cosmetic containers of the non-hinged type are, like industry-standard cosmetic compacts, very advantageous for conveniently transporting and/or storing cosmetics but are typically not protected against shocks and possess the same disadvantages described above for industry-standard cosmetic compacts. However, shock absorbing cosmetic containers of the non-hinged type have thus far not been contemplated. Moreover, no product currently exists by which pre-existing, conventional or industry-standard cosmetic containers of both the hinged and non-hinged types can be shielded to effectively absorb shocks so that the containers themselves as well as their contents are protected from damage, particularly while allowing the cosmetic containers to be used in their normal and intended manners.
Conventional cosmetic containers of the hinged and non-hinged types are made from materials that tend to readily absorb and conduct ambient heat, which often results in thermal damage to the cosmetics within the cosmetic containers. The foam proposed in the Skarne patent is a particularly good thermal conductor since external heat can easily penetrate to the compact interior via the open cells of the foam. When conventional cosmetic containers are exposed to heat, cosmetics contained therein are typically undesirably altered. For example, the consistency of the cosmetics may be detrimentally changed in that the cosmetics may soften and may even melt, liquify or “run”. Cosmetics that have experienced thermal damage may be rendered temporarily unsuitable for use and, in many cases, may be rendered permanently unsuitable for use. Even where thermally damaged cosmetics are suitable for further use, the cosmetics often times remain impaired in one or more ways. Since cosmetic containers are commonly transported in receptacles which are often placed in hot vehicles, sunny locations and other environments where the receptacles and, therefore, the cosmetic containers, may be exposed to damaging heat, thermal effects to cosmetics occurs with unwanted frequency. Given that many cosmetics are expensive, thermal damage to cosmetics represents a significant economic loss. Unfortunately, conventional cosmetic containers have not been designed with a view toward protecting the cosmetics therein from thermal damage, and no product currently exists by which pre-existing, conventional or industry-standard cosmetic containers may be shielded to protect against thermal effects.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that a need exists for cosmetic containers which are better protected to absorb shocks and that a need also exists for cosmetic containers in which the cosmetics can be protected from thermal damage. In addition, there is also a need for protective shields for receiving pre-existing, industry-standard cosmetic containers to provide shock absorption and/or thermal protection for the cosmetic containers.